migrating Win10Pro from an older PC to HP-OMEN

[mk9omen]

I'm in the process of migrating a Win10Pro from an older PC to the brand mew HP OMEN 30L G13 computer, by restoring the backup on the target OMEN computer. Win10Pro on OMEN would require new drivers, which I downloaded from this HP site .. these all xxxx.EXE files.

My question, how to extract the drivers from the EXE files ????

NOTE: Downloading the EXE files are done offline, and hence cannot be run in the target Win10Pro .. which is not installed yet, and again .. the question is how to extract the driver files, and make them available to the restore process .. to allow for the system to properly boot??

[Paul_Tikkanen]

Hi:

I use the free 7-zip file utility to extract the exe files into folders. 

It works with most drivers that have setup information files in the folders after the folder is created.

7-Zip (7-zip.org)

Install 7-Zip, then right click on the exe file you want to extract.  Select 7-Zip from the list of items on the menu, and select Extract to: and 7-Zip will create a folder you can open up and explore.

[mk9omen]

Paul .. thanks for taking time to reply to my question, but it's just as important to read the question too. First no need to use 7-zip, if you just run the EXE it will extract the files to the folder of your choice. The more important part of  my question is, now that the EXE driver file was extracted, how do you make it available to the backup restore .. such that the old system from the old computer now will boot and run correctly on the new HP OMEN computer?

Pls no offense, try again.

[Paul_Tikkanen]

You're very welcome.

Unfortunately, I would have no idea.

[Hibb1]

So you're trying to 'inject' the new omen drivers into an existing compressed  backup from a different machine - What an epic and agonizing waste of time.

If you MUST migrate your old OS to the new omen, then just do it and let Windows update sort out the drivers. You can also install the HP Support assistant to scan for updated drivers too.

I would personally suggest starting from fresh, as this will be the best outcome for performance & stability.

Upon reading your OP, I would have interpreted it the same as @Paul_Tikkanen 

[mk9omen]

Pleeeeese guys .. as I said earlier .. be sure to read the question before attempting answering. The old system is running just fine .. and on the new system the intend is to have additional RAM and better CPU. All your suggestions are for not .. because you didn't think the question through .. Windows will not take of do what you suggested because the system will not boot without having these OMEN drivers available to it at boot time.

And as long as you're paying attention .. a simpler, lighter question is .. how do I extract the drivers from the HP xxx.EXE driver files downloaded from the HP web page .. again, I'm asking you for the driver files .. i.e. running the xxxx.EXE file in a different environment than the target (remember, the target environment is not running yet because of missing drivers) produces a folder structure, and many files .. AND THE QUESTION is, where in this structure is the driver itself is located?

Guessing won't do .. if you never done it, pls don't guess..

[itsmyname]

>  how do I extract the drivers from the HP xxx.EXE driver files downloaded from the HP web page ..

1. Using your current computer, download the EXE file to a USB memory-stick.

2. Run the EXE file, targeting the memory-stick as the location where the folders are to be created. Browse those folders, looking for something like a "setup.exe" file. At this point, do NOT run those "setup" programs. Just make notes of where they are located (folder, subfolder, sub-sub-folder).

3. Repeat for each needed EXE file.

How old is your current disk-drive? Do you think that it would be beneficial to purchase a brand-new disk-drive, and use free software like "Macrium Reflect" to "clone" your current disk-drive onto the new, empty, disk-drive? 

Then, physically remove the disk-drive that came with the brand-new computer, and set it aside, and label it.

Connect the "cloned" (and brand-new) disk-drive into the new computer.

Connect the memory-stick to the new computer.

Boot the new computer from that "cloned" disk-drive.

If Windows prompts you for a "missing" device-driver, point it to the "root" folder on the memory-stick, and let Windows search all the sub-folders on the memory-stick, for whatever it is searching for. 

After Windows is booted-up, open the Windows "Device Manager" (right-mouse-button click on the Windows "Start" button on the screen, and choose that utility) to see if you still have "unknown" hardware, or "yellow-exclamation-mark" tags on some hardware.  If so, run each of those "SETUP.EXE" files on the memory-stick, to let it install the device-drivers.

Note that using the "cloned" disk-drive means that your original disk-drive is still in working order.

Removing the new disk-drive from the new computer means that, if everything is a disaster, you can reconnect the factory-loaded disk-drive, and boot from it, and have a brand-new fully-working computer.

P.S. I hope that you will not have any problems when using the "activated" product-key from your current computer to try to "activate" that product-key on your new hardware.

[WAWood]

@mk9omen 

Your question about extracting the contents of the HP files was already answered -- in post #2 in this thread -- use 7-Zip!